


Ignore The Warning Signs

by gossy16



Category: New Girl
Genre: Coda, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-25
Updated: 2013-02-25
Packaged: 2017-12-03 14:15:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/699143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gossy16/pseuds/gossy16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He’s not sure she’s buying it, but Nick needs to <i>clear up his space</i>, goddamnit. (2x17 post-ep)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ignore The Warning Signs

So one of those nights, Nick steps out to take his shift at the bar, and walks past Outside Dave literally shoving and throwing feral cats off of Jess's car. For no reason that he can fathom, Nick stops.

"Hey Dave, get outta here. I'm not gonna quote property law to you, mostly because I don't remember it, but you need to find somewhere else, man." 

"Or what?"

"Or I'll kick your ass! Now get gone, you squatter."

Outside Dave barks out a terrifying laugh and Nick walks away. (A keen observer might say he _scurried_.)

*

The next morning, Nick vaguely drifts from sleep to the sound of his phone vibrating somewhere nearby his pillow. 8:29. Text from Jessica Day: _Why did Outside Dave tease me about 'my boyfriend'?_ The next text at 8:32 just says: _Not cool, Nick. Not cool._

Nick has a brief moment of panic, remembers he does not care so much about cool, and eventually drifts back to sleep. He wakes up again a little after 9, and clearly something's not right because he drags himself directly from bed to his closet, stands on a chair to reach the back of the high shelf, and pulls out his Stoebuck & Whitman volume.  
For now mostly he just stares at the book, kind of maybe as a last resort he’ll skim through some of the relevant pages. (This is not over.)

*

“Nick, what are you doing?” 

Jess comes home a little after 5, half-slamming the door, with a weary note in her voice like she’s been carrying the weight of the world – which, Nick knows she DOES NOT, okay, so maybe he likes her natural flair for drama but he DOES NOT understand or agree with the way his guts kind of twist a little right now.

“What? What am I doing, Jess?”

“With Outside Dave! He said ‘Someone’ paid him a visit last night. Almost threw the breakfast burrito I got him back in my face.”

“Okay, Jess, that is crazy! That man is crazy, and violent. Maybe I don’t like a homeless bum throwing garbage at you every day, what’s the big deal? And why do you keep FEEDING him?!”

Nothing comes of that conversation. Jess appreciates what he’s doing, but this has been going on for months and she can handle it. Nick still thinks that’s crazy. Eventually they agree to drop it, both a little more frustrated. (Fine.)

*  
The next morning, Nick volunteers to take out the trash. Just as Jess walks out to her car. They share an elevator down.

“Seriously Nick, what is this?”

“Nothing!” he says, a little too defensive. “I just… I need to clear up my space a little. You know, Spring cleaning.” Surprisingly true. He’s not sure she’s buying it, but Nick needs to _clear up his space_ , goddamnit.

And if he leans his head a little after she steps out, after he bids Jess a good day, just so he can see her safely to her car, well.

It’s not like she saw him or anything. (Not that he’s doing anything wrong.)

*

Nick has a breakthrough with _Julius Pepperwood: Zombie Detective_ that afternoon. Yes, his clients are already dead – they’re seeking REVENGE; that’s what they want. Pepperwood’s _raison-d’être_ is to find their next meal! (Jessica Night disapproves.) IT’S BRILLIANT. Nick types it up and moves onto his laundry, decides against it, turns on the Food Network and tries to learn to cook by osmosis. 

He gets up off his ass after about 12 minutes to attempt a spicy turkey and green bean stir-fry, but they don’t have green beans so he substitutes those with black beans. He doesn’t use the recommended fancy rice (because seriously, who can taste the difference?) or any of the ingredients he can’t pronounce (because WHAT ARE THEY EVEN). Nick doesn’t believe in chicken broth. Synthetically-flavored water, that frankly, looks like it’s been peed-in? No thank you. In the end, it’s edible – even kinda good, and it serves 4, and today Nick Miller will count that as a win! Winston kind of digs it, too. Oh man, if his bartender/writer career plans fall through (he can’t imagine), Nick is all set!

(Later when Schmidt will taste what’s left of it, he will insist Nick is never left alone to watch The Food Network again. Nev. _Ver._ )

Anyway, Jess comes home a little after 5, and Nick catches himself thinking; well, isn’t that nice? Dinner on the table and Jess back from work. Except she says, “Hey Nick, what happened to Spring cleaning? This place looks the exact same.” Like he’s supposed to feel bad about it, but he doesn’t really, and then he remembers this morning.

“Oh yeah,” he fake-laughs, like he just remembered something amazingly relevant. Which he just did. “Turns out Spring doesn’t start for a couple more weeks! What do you know?”

She sighs a put-upon sigh, crinkles her eyes a little, says “Nick!” with a corner-smile like she’s saying oh you, but there is no bite to it, no follow-up either, and it is now twice in an alarmingly short time that Nick feels properly, utterly charmed. Well, shit. (Isn’t that nice?)

They sit for (second) dinner and he can tell she’s had better spicy turkey stir-fries, but she appreciates the effort, and she is so genuine about it even Nick can admit he’ll try harder next time.

As they’re doing the dishes (he washes; she dries), Nick is seized by the irrepressible need to share, “I figured it out, Jess.”

There’s still a pan in the sink, but she hastily runs the dishtowel over her hands, and Nick for a second could swear she looks disappointed when he starts telling her about Pepperwood’s purpose. 

She enthuses encouragements and asks questions like, “if he doesn’t find the mark, do the zombies then turn against him?” and “is that why Pepperwood’s doing it, for survival? What’s his motivation?” And okay, maybe Nick still needs to work out some details. 

It’s a stupidly early night after that. Jess is seeing some French film about old people with CeCe. Nick retreats to his room, supposedly to work on his _character arcs_. Instead he ends up staring at a white page, wondering what the hell it was Jess thought he’d figured out.

Meanwhile, the property law textbook covered in dust that’s been sitting on his desk the past couple of days is judging him. (It’s funny because usually people judge books. Nick thinks of Soviet Russia internet jokes and cracks himself up. Yeah, so he’s spent too much time on the internet.) Anyway, the tome sits there with its dusty cover, judging him, and Nick can’t write or sleep. 

So he checks the time, gathers his blanket under an arm, stops at the fridge to get a six-pack of beer, and heads out to the street. He finds Outside Dave sitting on a filthy, greyish unidentified piece of fabric. 

He makes it back to the loft, empty-handed before Jess returns from the movie. Does not, however, find sleep until he hears the key in the lock.

*

It’s a rude awakening in the morning, Jess storming into his room and expecting him to know what’s wrong.

“Heyyy, Jess. How was the movie?”

“Oh, it was delightful,” Jess answers, momentarily thrown off her high horse, and he knows what’s coming in a minute, but god, he loves her. ( _Wait, what?_ ) “It was beautiful, and hauntingly depressing. Or maybe depressing, hauntingly beautiful. Anyway, NOT an uplifting story. I cried, and then I couldn’t read the subtitles, it was a mess. But don’t you dare change the topic on me!”

“What is the topic, Jess?” 

Nick’s made it halfway out of his bed, sitting on the edge, when he gets an armful of wet, stinky blanket. 

“Compliments of Outside Dave.”

Nick frowns and makes a disgusted sound. That’s his blanket all right, except now it’s wet and stinky, like Outside Dave poured all of the beer over it. Possibly pissed on it, too. Yuck. “Jess, that’s gross! No!”

“Oh, please tell me again how disgusting YOUR BLANKET is, I’m not sure I got a complete sense of it on the way from my car to your room.”

She’s mad, and he’s wide awake now.

“Look, Jess. Sometimes the best laid plans backfire. This would appear to be one such occasion, and I apologize.”

“Why do you even need a _plan_ , Nick?”

“It’s okay, I’ll talk to the guys, we’ll get you the parking spot.”

Wrong answer. “I don’t WANT the parking spot, I want to know what you’re doing! It’s not a great situation but it’s fine. I don’t need you to intervene.”

“You should really see the way he shoos those cats at night, I mean. They get their claws out,” and here Nick mimics a cat getting their claws out and scratching the car. “Gonna ruin your paint job one of these days. Insurance doesn’t cover that.”

“My paint job, really? Nick.”

“Okay, maybe I don’t like it! The way he grabs them and throws them every which way. Animal cruelty. I’m telling you, that guy is a maniac.” 

“Nick, you don’t even like cats!”

“It’s more like I don’t TRUST them, okay? I’m sure they’re very nice animals.”

And it’s starting to sound like another conversation going nowhere, but Nick is wide awake now, and he’s tired of going nowhere, always, nowhere. When Jess starts showing signs of losing interest (her dramatic streak), he has to give her _something_.

“Look,” he starts. “You’re right. I don’t really care what happens to the cats. I care what happens to you.”

And sure enough, Jess is still standing here, close enough to touch. “Oh yeah?” She says, like she’s still kind of mad, and the beauty in that is, he knows her well enough by now to know she’s not. “Why is that?” 

He could give her the million everyday reasons: because they’re friends, because it’s not safe out there and he doesn’t want to have to identify her body, because he secretly likes the organic yogurt she brings home when it’s her turn to do the grocery shopping.

But he’s tired of going nowhere, so he takes a small step towards her and tucks her hair behind her ear. “Because I don’t like cats, Jess. I like you.”

Jess smiles, shakes her head something like _fond_ , which is new-ish and not entirely unpleasant.


End file.
